One And A Half Hearts
by LilyInTheSkyWithDiamonds
Summary: When Chloe Archibald is fired from her dream job, she is left feeling absolutely miserable. Then she meets a man, a doctor. She begins to learn why she has always had odd visions, and why information sometimes downloads into her mind. The Doctor, on the other hand, discovers something that should have been impossible. 10 and O/C. takes place after "Journey's End"
1. Chloe

Chloe Archibald woke up feeling horrible about herself. It had been less than 24 hours since she had gotten fired from her job at the best law firm in London, and she didn't even know why. At 26 years old, she was one of the best lawyers she knew. She had graduated early from Harvard Law in America and had moved back to London to follow her dream of working at Herring, Martin, and Crawly, and hopefully adding her surname to he end. But alas, yesterday James Crawly had called her into his office to tell her that she had been let go and to pack her things immediately. It was quite disappointing for the girl who had graduated top of her class at Harvard Law.

So yes, Chloe was quite upset.

She finally managed to drag herself out of bed and stare at her reflection in her full length mirror. Her wavy black hair made her look as if she hadn't brushed it for days. She could see the effects of her job loss all over her body. She had just worked out the morning before, but everything seemed to be sagging. Chloe sighed and moved closer to the mirror and peered at her face. Her nose was red and there were bags under her stormy grey eyes. "The eyes of Athena", her mother called them. Then again, Chloe's mother was mad. She had been admitted to the Frederick Holland Mental Hospital when Chloe was ten. Chloe had mostly been raised by her grandmother, as her father was never around. She wondered what her grandmother would say when she heard that Chloe had barely lasted a year in the professional world.

Chloe sighed, raked a brush through her hair, and went out to the kitchen. Her roommate, Kendra, was eating a bowl of oatmeal and a grapefruit. Kendra was a blonde girl with the lithe body of a dancer. She was a ballerina at the London ballet, and even as Chloe entered the kitchen, she could see Kendra absently pointing and flexing her feet.

Chloe moved towards the cabinet, looking for something to eat. "Good morning, Chlo!" Kendra said, brightly. Seeing the look of gloom on Chloe's face, Kendra tried again. "Er, how are you feeling today?" Kendra had softened her tone in an attempt to comfort her flatmate. "Horrible," Chloe replied miserably, still wandering around the kitchen, searching for breakfast. Kendra put her dishes in the sink and pulled Chloe into a hug. "Aw, come here, Chlo-bird. It'll get better. It's been what, 18 hours? That Crawly just hasn't had time to realize what an _awful_ mistake he's made." Kendra pulled back and smiled up at Chloe, wiping away her tears. "Besides," Kendra continued, "You're the best lawyer in London. Who wouldn't want to hire you?"

Chloe managed a weak smile. "Thanks, Kendra." Then, taking a deep breath, she asked, "Is there any actual breakfast food in this entire flat?"

Kendra looked down. "Ah, yes, about that..."

"Kendra!" Chloe exclaimed. Kendra winced. "Weren't you supposed to go to the store yesterday?"

Kendra's face was an interesting mix of flustered, sheepish, and sad. "Well, yes! I was. And I was going to! But then I had to stay late at work to rehearse, and I forgot and I just came right home and by the time I remembered I was just so tired and I didn't want to go back out and I'm so sorry, Chloe, really I am!" By the end of her speech, Kendra looked on the verge of tears, and Chloe smiled. "Calm down, Kendra. It's nothing to behead you over." It was Kendra's turn for a weak smile. "I'll go," Chloe said, and when it looked as if Kendra was about to protest, Chloe simply said, "It's not like I have anywhere to be today, anyway."

Kendra pursed her lips and sighed. "Fine", she said, going to grab her dance bag. "But only because I'm already late." She grabbed her keys off the counter, and on her way out the door, called a quick goodbye. Chloe smiled at her friend's hasty exit, even though it was nothing unusual. Kendra was notoriously late, and had been for as long as Chloe could remember. The two had been childhood friends, and although they had been separated for several years when Kendra went to a ballet school, and then again when Chloe went to college in the U.S, they had reconnected and moved in together. After having never met her father, and her mother going mad when Chloe was young, she was happy to have some one like Kendra as a consistent entity in her life.

After drinking a cup of tea in a futile attempt to lessen her hunger, Chloe went back to her room to get dressed and rub some concealer under her eyes. When she was at last convinced that she didn't look _completely _disastrous, she grabbed her coat and left.

Chloe loved London for many reasons, but the biggest was the smell. She knew this was an unpopular opinion, but she loved the smell of the city. The city smelled like business and life and people living their lives. It was one of the biggest things that defined her as a city person, and she was happy for that.

The nearest grocery store was four blocks away, and Chloe was getting close when she stopped. She had just walked past an alley, and she went back to it. It was just like any other alley in London, dirty and with a smell of old garbage. Yet there was a feeling in her stomach that was drawing her into it, as if there was a rope just behind her navel, and someone in the alley was pulling it.

Chloe had had this feeling before, and so followed it with no question. She knew what would happen next. She also knew to stop about five feet from the back alley wall without question.

Sure enough, as Chloe had predicted, she suddenly felt as if she was being lifted off her feet. A pale yellow light flooded her vision, and she felt a new surge of information pushing its way into her head. All sounds, thoughts, and that lovely city smell were all blocked out.

Eventually, the light faded and Chloe felt a short falling sensation, and she was back in the alley. Chloe wasn't sure how long it lasted, past experiences had taken anywhere from a few seconds to an hour. Her estimate for this time was about two minutes. She groaned and placed her fingers to her temples. The headaches always came with the information flood. She assumed that it was because her brain was trying to process all the new information, but there was no way to be sure. She hadn't told anyone about her condition, not even her grandmother or Kendra. Something told her not to, that they wouldn't understand. She had always followed that rule.

As her senses returned, she heard a whirring noise, but wasn't sure where it was coming from. She opened her eyes to see a large, blue "Police Box", according to the label at the top. The door opened, and a man in a suit stepped out, and looked at Chloe in surprise.

"Er, hello" the man said, staring at her with an odd look on his face.

Chloe smiled as some of the information set in her mind. "Hello, _Doctor_" she said, and then promptly fainted.


	2. Knowing

The Doctor too, had been feeling rather down. He had just lost two of his friends permanently. It had been so nice to be able to see Rose again, and then she had been taken. He felt a bit better knowing that she was with someone he trusted- himself- but it wasn't quite enough for him to really move on.

And then there was Donna. He felt horrible about leaving her after everything that had happened, even though he knew it was for the best. He had used her to save the planet; if it hadn't been for her, there was a very good chance that the Daleks would have succeeded. If it hadn't been for Donna, they would probably all be dead, and he had just abandoned her.

The Doctor sighed and leaned against the TARDIS console. He needed to escape, to burn energy. He felt too cooped up, even in the infinitely large TARDIS. He decided to travel a couple of miles, go for a walk, stretch his legs, and then be off. He parked his machine in an alley, where it would be out of sight. He was becoming more and more known in this world, as more aliens tried to take it over. He sighed, shook out his lanky limbs, opened the door, and immediately wished he had picked a different alley.

There was a girl standing there, probably around 25 years old, staring at him. Even stranger, she had a sort of dreamy smile on her face, as if she had just woken up. There were very few people who smiled when he showed up, and as far as he could remember, this girl shouldn't have been one.

The Doctor tried to think of something to say, some way to explain himself, but all he could manage was a weak "Er, hello". The girl made a face as if she had just realized something, and her smile grew. "Hello, Doctor" she said, and as soon as the words left her lips, she collapsed.

The Doctor managed to shake off his shock in time to catch the girl before she hit the ground. He racked his memory for a previous time when he had met this girl, but nothing came. Was he becoming so famous that humans he had never even met were recognizing him? That thought worried The Doctor. He liked the life of the anonymous hero. If people on earth could recognize him, he would either have to leave that life behind or leave Earth until people stopped knowing who he was. He didn't like either of those options, and hoped this was just a girl whom he had met before.

Speaking of the girl, The Doctor turned his attention back to her. He carried her back into the TARDIS and lied her down on the floor of the console room. After a brief inspection, The Doctor concluded that she had a pulse, was still breathing, and wasn't running a fever. She had simply passed out.

It took about 10 minutes for her to come to. She groaned and sat up, fingers pressed to her temples. The Doctor knelt beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked nervously.

The girl opened her eyes. He hadn't noticed them before, but they were a startling grey. The girl grimaced, and nodded. "Yeah, it's not the first time I've fainted." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Chloe Archibald." The Doctor took her hand, shaking it, and then helping her pull herself up. "I'm The Doctor", he said, and then with a hint of suspicion, added "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Chloe glanced at him nervously. "Yeah, I uh, I guess I did." She looked around the console room. "Where are we?"

It was The Doctor who stammered this time. "This is my, uh, my ship, of sorts. It's called the TARDIS." Chloe nodded, as if that made perfect sense. "Time and relative dimension in space", she muttered, still nodding and looking around the room.

The Doctor gasped. "What?" he exclaimed, making Chloe jump. "What did you say? Did you just say what TARDIS stands for?" He didn't wait for an answer. "How did you _know_ that?" His expression was one of pure bewilderment.

Chloe, on the other hand, looked as if she were about to cry. She had never told anyone about her "gift", but her gut told her that it was O.K to tell this man, and Chloe Archibald _always _followed her gut instinct. She took a deep breath, and began to explain. "Since I was 12, I've been getting these... downloads into my brain. With no warning, I see this yellow light, and I feel my feet leave the ground, and then all my senses go blank, except for the yellow light. I can't hear, smell, or touch anything. I can't even move. I'm just stuck there until the download stops. When it does, I get a horrible headache, and then after a little while I faint. I was having one of my little episodes right before you appeared." The Doctor nodded thoughtfully, and then asked "What kind of information appears in our head, after each, ah, _episode_?" Chloe furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. "Well, most of the time it doesn't make any sense, and I end up with words like _Ood _and _Gelf_ floating around my head." The doctor tried to hide his surprise. "And I know this is going to sound absolutely insane,", Chloe continued "but ever since my first little episode, I've been able to feel the Earth spinning. I can feel the gravity dragging me down, almost as if I belong somewhere without gravity. I know this sounds mad, but I've always followed my instinct, and up until today it's been telling me to keep all of this to myself, but for some reason it's O.K to tell you." Chloe was afraid of what she would see on The Doctor's face, but she looked anyway.

The Doctor looked as if he was choosing his next words very, _very_ carefully. "Chloe, I don't think you're human." Chloe's jaw dropped and her words became hysterical. "Well, if I'm not human, what am I?" The Doctor almost felt bad, she looked so frightened.

He stood up and led Chloe over to a scanner, all the while saying, "I'm not exactly sure what you are, but I have a fairly easy way of figuring that out. Now, if you'll just stand there..." He trailed off as he flicked a switch, then a few seconds later flicked it off again. He ran over to a screen as information started popping up. _Name, age, height, weight, _and then, finally, _species._

The Doctor read it, read it again, and then once more to be sure. But when it finally set in his mind what it meant, it felt as if both of his hearts had dropped to the pit of his stomach.


	3. Explain

No matter how many times the Doctor read and re-read the scanner, the words stayed the same. Even he could not change what was in front of him, no matter how much it terrified him.

"Doctor?" Chloe's voice shook him out of his trance. "Is everything okay?" There was fear in her voice, and the Doctor realized he was partly to blame for that, by the way he stared at the screen. "Oh, yeah, everything's _fine_" the Doctor said, attempting to reassure himself as much – if not more than – Chloe.

Chloe started walking towards him apprehensively. "So then, what is it? What's wrong with me?"

The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up. "Well, it's not that anything's _wrong_ with you. It's just that there's something not quite – right.", The Doctor finished lamely. "It isn't that you're sick or anything, but... Look, you may want to sit down for this. Chloe lowered herself the floor of the console room. "Chloe,", The Doctor went on, "you aren't entirely human."

Chloe drew in a deep breath. "Well, if I'm not human, then what am I?" Her tone was more puzzled than worried or frightened, definitely not what The Doctor had expected. He had thought she would be more upset. Donna would have yelled at him.

"Chloe, you aren't human because one of your parents was an alien" He tried to break the news gently, but it seemed to only upset her more.

"What kind of alien? Or don't you know?" She glared accusingly at The Doctor.

"I do know!" The Doctor was also becoming more and more frazzled. "You see- your parents- well one of your parents, obviously, not both, I mean, your only half alien, if it was both parents-"

"Doctor!"

"TIME LORD!"

The outburst was met with a stunned silence. The Doctor looked shocked at the truth of what he had said. Chloe simply looked as if she was trying to process the new information.

"A t-time-lord?" The Doctor nodded, then said "Well for you, it's really time _lady_."

Chloe nodded, thinking. "You mean like you? I thought you were the last one."

The Doctor stared at her, shocked. "Well, yes, I am a time-lord, and the last as well but... How did you know?" Chloe merely smiled and tapped the side of her head. "It's all in here. Came with that little information spurt right before you landed. I know everything about you now."

The Doctor glanced down, scared to meet her eyes. "Everything?"

Chloe began pacing the room. "I know you're old. Impossibly old, but not for you. I know there was a girl called Rose, and you loved her, more than you ever loved anyone, but now she's gone. And there was Donna, who's also gone, and if you return to her she'll die. And you feel guilty, so horribly guilty for what you've done to the two of them simply by being with them." Chloe had circled the room and was now standing with The Doctor. She put a hand to his cheek and turned his face to hers. "But you shouldn't feel guilty" She whispered, "Because when they were with you, they were happy, and you were happy too. What happened to them was _not your fault_, Doctor. And the sooner you start believing that, the sooner you can start being happy again."

The Doctor smiled briefly, and then turned away from her and began pacing. "Now, I've got a theory on how your time-lord parent had a-"

"-My dad", Chloe interrupted, her face alight with sudden discovery. At The Doctors raised eyebrows, she said "My dad was the time-lord, and my mum was the human. I'm sure of it."

"Ah, yes, but if you don't mind my asking, _how_ are you sure?"

Chloe just smiled. "Well, you see, I never knew my father, which would make sense if he was off time-traveling." The smile dissipated. "And my mum, well, my mum is mad. Not angry-mad, insane-mad. I assume that, er, _mating_ with a time-lord could do that, especially if you have a child afterwords."

The Doctor nodded, starting to understand. "So if your father had traveled to, ah, when's your birthday?"

"October 29"

"Right, so if this time-lord was on Earth around January 29, he would have been there for your conception."

"Oh!" Chloe exclaimed.

"What?" The Doctor asked, concerned. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"The Challenger" Chloe said as means of explanation. The Doctor was still confused. "The space shuttle Challenger. It disintegrated on January 28 the year I was born. My mum used to work for NASA, she was an engineer. If this time-lord had come back to witness the Challenger's destruction-"

"-He and your mum would have both been in the same place at the same time!" The Doctor finished gleefully.

"So that's it then? I'm a time-lady? I can time travel? I can regenerate?" The Doctor frowned. "To be honest , Chloe, I'm not sure about the whole regeneration thing. You are only half time-lord, so you probably don't have all the power a time-lord has." Chloe smiled and nodded, but her eyes betrayed the disappointment she felt. In effort to cheer her up, The Doctor smiled and said, "But you can definitely time travel" Grinning, he gripped a lever on the TARDIS console. Judging by the smile not only on Chloe's lips but also in her eyes, he had succeeded in making her happier. "Now, where to?"


	4. Blasphemy

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: So I realize that I just gave you three chapters of introduction, and I am quite sorry for that. Also, I admit that that last chapter wasn't my best writing. Anyway, I'm hoping that in this next chapter, things will start to pick up. Thank you, all you beautiful readers, for picking my story out of the bunch. Shoutout to Captain Cynthia, Violet K, WelshWeevil, golden-priestess, and DoctorWho53 for favoriting/following this story. You guys give me the push I need to keep writing.**

After much whirring and shaking, the TARDIS jerked to a stop and Chloe was thrown to the floor. She was immediately taken by a fit of giggling. The Doctor rushed over, slightly alarmed at her fall, but broke into a grin when he saw her in hysterics. He reached out a hand to pull her up.

Still giggling, Chloe asked, "Is it always like that? The yelling, and the noise, and the jerking about?" The Doctor cocked his head and looked thoughtful. "Well, it's not _always_ like that-" He laughed and shook his head. "Ok, most of the time it is. It's actually very rare that it's anything different."

Smiling, they walked down the ramp to the doors. Chloe wiped the smile off her face and turned to The Doctor. "So", she said, seriously, "Where – and when – are we?" Grinning again, The Doctor reached for the handle. "Let's find out, shall we?"

The Doctor opened the door, and together he and Chloe stepped out into bright sunlight. They were in a city square. The streets and buildings were made of stone, and all the people wore draped, flowing dresses. In the middle of the square was a statue of a woman wearing an olive wreath as a crown and with an owl on her shoulder.

The Doctor saw Chloe staring at the larger-than-life-sized statue. "Athena", he said. Chloe glanced at him, raising her eyebrows. "The Goddess of wisdom, strategy, and weaving. Patron Goddess of Athens; it was named after her. And _that_," He said, gesturing broadly to the city around him, "Is where we are. Athens Greece. 700 B.C.E"

Chloe laughed joyously. "You mean we just traveled 2700 years back in time to Greece? Incredible." They strolled over to the statue of Athena. Chloe thought about how her mother so often compared her eyes to those of Athena, and now that they stood before a statue of her, Chloe studied it. The eyes were grey, but that was it. Chloe sighed and figured it was just something her mother said out of madness.

A woman knelt at the statue's base praying. Chloe tilted her head in thought. "It's fascinating hearing people who believe so much in what we now know to be myth talk about the gods. If I spent enough time here, I think I may start believe as well." It was meant as a joke, but The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "Yes, I suppose you would, but, Chloe, the gods aren't mythical."

Chloe stared at him in shock. "What?"

"Well," The Doctor said, "You know what mythical means?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"The gods – and all the stories that come with them – are the opposite of that." The sly smile that played on his lips was what told Chloe that he was kidding. She smiled and nudged him with her elbow. "So what you're saying is that the gods and goddesses are real? Zeus, Athena, Poseidon – they're alive?"

The Doctor took a moment to consider this. "Technically, yes, in 700 B.C.E, the gods were alive. But their species, the Traordians, fed off of belief. So when other religions became dominant and people stopped believing in them, they starved to death. Where you come from, the gods have been dead for a long, long time."

Chloe nodded, then asked, "But couldn't they just have left Earth and gone somewhere else where people would believe in them?"

"Yes, but another thing about Traordians: They're travelers. Some stay on their home planet to breed, keep the population going. Their planet is one of the safest for them. They're the inhabitants, and they all believe in themselves, and thus they have an endless food supply. But the travelers head out in packs; tribes. When they find a place to settle down, if the native species takes hold of the belief of the existence of the Traordians, they stay. If not, they move along to the next planet. However, once they've taken up residence, even if the food supply starts failing, they don't want to leave. So they stay, and eventually starve to death."

Chloe looked at his solemn face, and she knew he was telling the truth. "That's so sad. All they need is for people to think about them, and they live. But we can't even do that."

The Doctor put an arm around her shoulder. Although they had only known each other for a short period of time, he already felt a strong connection to her, and she felt the same way. It was like they had know each other for many years, when it had only been a day. Chloe supposed that that could happen when you were with the right person. You could feel as if you had been together all your life when it was only the beginning of a lifetime together. When he looped his arm around her shoulder Chloe knew that she would one day love The Doctor, and that he would love her. It may not be in a romantic way (that looked especially unlikely considering what she had seen of Rose in his mind), but it would definitely make them feel as if it would be very hard to live without the other by their side.

"Look", The Doctor said, trying to pick up Chloe's spirits. "No matter what, people are always going to go after the newest thing, whether it be fashion or music or gods. Eventually, no matter what we do here in Athens, people will eventually believe that there is a bigger and better god out there."

"Blasphemy!" The Doctor and Chloe wheeled around in shock. The woman who had been praying at the statue now stared at them, her face a mix of horror and outrage. "You dare to speak of another god who is greater than the Almighty Zeus?!"

The woman was in her mid-thirties, and from the state of her clothing she was rather poor. Chloe figured that the gods were the biggest part of her life. She continued to scream hate at Chloe and The Doctor, who, to Chloe's frustration, seemed just as speechless as she.

Suddenly a man on horseback broke in between them. Chloe looked around in surprise; she hadn't even heard him approach, and yet there were two other riders accompanying him along with one riderless horse. Surely four horses would have made some sort of noise

"Back, lady!" Chloe turned her attention back to what was happening in front of her. The man was yelling at the now cowering woman. At her attempts to protest, he drew his sword. "I don't want things to get messy, ma'am, so unless you have a death wish I suggest you leave." The woman stared up at him, speechless, then with one final glare at Chloe, scurried off into the city.

The man turned to face the duo. "You have been speaking of the fate of the gods, have you not?" He didn't seem like someone who would take well at being lied to.

"Yes, sir." Chloe said, much more confidently than she felt.

The man nodded, then gestured to the riders behind him. "In that case, my lord wishes to see you." The riderless horse stepped forward, and Chloe and The Doctor climbed on.

"It's so strange," Chloe said in The Doctor's ear. "I didn't even hear them approach." The Doctor nodded, and although Chloe couldn't see his expression, she imagined it was one of apprehension (she was right).

"So what does it mean?" She asked, a bit scared for the answer.

"Well, it could mean one of two things. Either something bad is about to happen, or something _really_ bad is about to happen." Chloe appreciated his attempt at a joke, but she couldn't quite find it in her heart to be amused.

"Then I suppose we should find out, eh?" She asked, and The Doctor nodded. The three men began to gallop off towards the outskirts of Athens, and The Doctor and Chloe found themselves following.

**Hello! So this chapter is the longest so far, which I suppose you deserve since it's been closer to 10 days then one week, which is when I said I'd be updating. It's about midnight where I am but I didn't want to wait until morning to post this so I thought I'd do it now. I appreciate the 2 reviews I've gotten thus far, but it would mean so much to me if I could get some more. If you're reading this, you've gotten 4 chapters in, so you must have some thoughts on something! Whatever it is, I want to hear it, so please just tell me what you think! No matter what, I appreciate that you've chosen my story to read, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you to each and every one of you. :)**


	5. Olympus

The horses galloped at an alarming pace towards a mountain in the distance. Chloe was glad The Doctor was sitting in front of her, or else her hair would have been blowing in his face and she would have had to tie it up. It felt so nice to have the wind streaming through her hair; letting it fly  
in the wind. She felt a bit cliché with those thoughts, but she shook it off and enjoyed the ride. How often was it that she got to ride through Ancient Athens? Never, obviously, so she tightened her grip on The Doctor and admired the view.

Since they had left the city about 45 minutes ago, they had passed a stream, a small village, and been in and out of the woods several times. The scenery was gorgeous, and Chloe couldn't help but think that the art of the time had not done the area justice.

"Isn't this incredible?" she asked The Doctor, and he turned slightly and smiled. "You like it?", he asked.

Chloe laughed, purely out of joy. "I love it! It's ridiculous and impossible, and yet I can't get enough. On a more serious note, do you have any idea where we're going?"

"Do you remember what I told you before, about the Greek Gods?"

Chloe rolled her eyes even though she knew he couldn't see her. "You mean that they're real? How could I forget?"

"Right, well you see that mountain up there?" He pointed towards the mountain they had been riding toward. If they kept up their current pace, they would arrive in about ten minutes. "That's Mount Olympus. I think we're being taken to meet the Gods themselves."

"You mean I'm about to have a conversation with Zeus and Athena?" Chloe laughed again. She was having trouble believing that this was her, that this was all happening to her. If it weren't for the feeling in her mind telling her it was true, she would probably try and pinch herself out of a dream.

The Doctor seemed less enthusiastic. "The thing is, Chloe, I have no idea who wants to speak with us. By this time there are many minor Gods, most of whom have names you may not recognize."

Chloe didn't reply, for they had reached the base of the mountain. The lead horseman dismounted and beckoned that The Doctor and Chloe do the same. The other two riders went around to the left of the mountain, presumably to a stable somewhere, and the riderless horses followed. The lead man walked to the mountains base and began to climb. The Doctor and Chloe glanced at each other, and then followed.

The mountain at this stage was not very steep, but Chloe noticed that it got steeper higher up. As she was wondering how they were going to climb it, the man walked to a cave opening Chloe hadn't seen before. Chloe and The Doctor followed obediently inside, and Chloe gasped.

About 15 feet in was a magnificent golden chariot. It illuminated the cave with a light that seemed to pulsate from within, spreading golden light all around the cavern. "This is how we'll travel the rest of the way", the man said, breaking the stunned silence. He gestured to the chariot, and The Doctor and Chloe got in. The Doctor was grinning massively, and Chloe realized she probably looked similar. "So if this is the golden chariot, that would make you-"

"-Apollo, lady." The man answered, smiling gently. Chloe instantly felt a rush of happiness.

It didn't take long, however, for the joy to turn to complete confusion. "Er, Doctor," Chloe whispered as Apollo boarded the chariot. "There are no horses; how are we actually supposed to AH!"

The last part of the sentence was taken over by a shrill scream as the chariot took off into the air. They were flying, and _fast_. Within a few seconds, they were at the top of the mountain.

Chloe stepped off the chariot dazed. She turned to The Doctor, and again believed their expressions mirrored. His eyes were wide, and he bore an even wider grin than before, and his hair! It was blown the point where it was sticking up all over the place. Chloe burst out laughing.

The Doctor's expression changed into one of offense. "What?"

Chloe struggled to speak through her laughter. Finally, she was able to control herself. "Your hair, it's very whoomph!" She said, motioning around her own head to demonstrate.

"Ah." The Doctor said, attempting to flatten his hair.

"Are you quite finished?" Apollo said, clearly impatient. The Doctor and Chloe traded bashful looks, and followed the god out of the small stable where they had parked the chariot.

Chloe gasped when she saw the city laid out in front of her. It was everything she would have imagined of an ancient Grecian city. There were temples spread out along the entire landscape, each made out of white stone. Between and around the temples were gardens, and Chloe noticed that each temple's garden had a fountain. She guessed that the centerpiece of the fountain corresponded to the god or goddess of it's temple. A single cobblestone road snaked its way through the city. At the closest end of the road was the biggest temple of all, the place where the gods held council.

Suddenly, the sky darkened, and a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. It was followed immediately by an impressive boom of thunder.

Just as soon as the clouds appeared, they were gone, and the day was sunny again. Chloe whirled to face the Doctor, but Apollo answered her question before she had even asked.

"Zeus." He said. His expression showed more nerves than it had before the thunder. "He must be getting impatient. Come, you'll have time to sight-see after your conference." With that he walked away, but not after he mumbled something that sounded like "If you're still alive." Chloe prayed that she was wrong, and followed Apollo down the road.

**A/N: Jeepers. It's been almost three weeks since my last update. This story is definitely not going in the direction I had pictured it, so it's been really hard to write. This chapter was originally going to go through their council with the gods, but I figured I just needed to get something up. Many apologies for the long wait. Shout-out to LostGirl24, caskett98, and lyssalauren, my newest followers. Much love, and I'll try and be more frequent with the updates.**

**Also, I tried to put some David Tennant hair-porn imagery in there for ya. ;)**


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